The Sixth Line of Defense

by Shiva Winters

  * * *

  "I'd need to go to Anslaw." Shiva told them without hesitation or doubt. "Talk about plans all you want, talk about possible targets for just as long, but if I am going to go up against Series 5 for real I'd have to go to Anslaw first."

  "Shiva.." The General murmured making it absolutely clear he was finding multiple reasons to object.

  "General you can try to put every standard issue rifle in the inventory into my hands.. you could gather the greatest tailors in the world to try and hack down standard issue body armor to fit around me.. you could try and get all the latest and greatest gadgets from the quartermaster, and none of it would do me any good. Super-strong telekinetic or not, I just barely managed to get the three of us out of there and that was when I had surprise on my side." Her eyes darted over to Devin's looking fiercely into his steady gaze. "I swore to Vala that if she let me do this that I would come back to her. That means I would need every advantage I could get my hands on.. and the only ones that would matter to me would be the kinds I could find in Anslaw."

  "That facility has been locked down for more than 50 years now.." The General murmured to her.

  "If you don't want to risk any of your people that's fine. Put me on a shuttle, get me a window on a catapult and give me the clearances that will let me land in one of the shuttle bays. All I would need is some excuse, any excuse that will get me in the front door and I can handle things from there." Shiva told him firmly.

  "You're sure, Shiva?" Devin commented to her.

  "If that's what it would take than I am positive. I need the stuff I left in Anslaw if I am going to be prepared to take this as far as I might have to. So I can prove I didn't do this and get the information you will need to take to whomever might be able to stop something worse from happening." Shiva swore to them.

  "Give us a few days to see what we can do, right now we need to be sure that Anslaw hasn't already been compromised." The General told her, reluctant to delay that long but knowing she hadn't gotten back to her full strength, Shiva nodded and left the matter at that as she nodded to both of them before leaving the private office.

  Three days later and Shiva's patience was truly starting to wear thin knowing that the situation outside could only grow worse as six days had already past since the attack. If that wasn't bad enough, neither of her 'co-conspirators' were at Jarson for her to demand answers from or to help her take action. Only the fact that Rei was steadily improving and the doctors had declared her to be 'out of the woods' kept her from really going stir crazy. Since neither she or Vala felt ready to leave her side and because she didn't require a bunch of machines to monitor her condition, the three of them had been moved away from the medical wing and into crew quarters on the far side of the underground base.

  She was just returning from another unsuccessful attempt at getting someone in charge to put her into contact with Devin or General Owen, and after more than hour of stalking the halls to try to ease some of the nervous tension that would worry Rei and frustrate Vala, neither of which were handling the isolation all that well. Shiva's armed shadow of an escort fell back at the end of the hall as she made the turn towards the bare tiny room that had been designated for the three of them, as she came into view Gregor caught her eyes and nodded over his shoulder towards the door with smile. Curious enough not growl at him for not simply telling her what was happening, Shiva slipped inside and caught the sound of an almost happy conversation. It was only a small blessing that the three of them had seemed to cry themselves out for the moment and were intently trying to focus on the future, but it surprised her to hear even a small glimmer of the happiness that had been nonexistent since all of it had begun.

  "There you are.." Vala murmured as Shiva peered around the corner suspiciously, giving her the first real honest smile she had seen from her in what felt like an eternity. ".. we have visitors."

  "Hello again, Shiva." That voice was one that tugged at an even more distant memory. Even with that subtle shifting of memory she couldn't quite find the reason that voice summoned up a feeling of nostalgia as a beautiful woman in her thirties with bright gold hair and deep purple eyes crossed the room to duck down in front of her. Not even sure she trusted this situation enough to give this stranger the benefit of a doubt, it was the slow glowing smile that soon appear that made the answers come flooding back to her.

  "Kali!" Feeling almost dizzy Shiva threw herself forward to hug the now older woman who laughed with the greatest amusement as she caught Shiva in her arms.

  "Look at you little sis, still as cute as can be, I see." Kali teased warmly as the hug ended and Shiva stepped back just a little to look at a much older sibling in shock.

  "How long have you been awake?!" She demanded of her sibling surprised by how much older she looked when compared to those long ago memories of a bright haired chipper little girl.

  "Hmm.. 12 years or so.." Kali told her and it almost sounded like she was guessing. "They moved you out of there so fast that I didn't get the chance to see you off." It occurred to Shiva in the next moment that Kali was wearing a very unfamiliar uniform though Shiva had never believed that any of them might serve a military that had abandoned them. "Lunar security, sweety, but I don't really work for them."

  "Than who do you work for?" Shiva asked suddenly suspicious, much to Kali's deep amusement.

  "No one, this was just so I could get in the door. My husband indulged me a little when I forced him to tell me what he was trying to hide." Shiva giggled up at her struck by her playful expression that instantly reminded her of all their childhood mischief and their long ago friendship.

  "Husband?" She asked in the next heartbeat.

  "Yep, he's a little slow sometimes and certainly stubborn, but he's still got a cute butt and a good heart." Kali informed her as Shiva's eyes almost instinctively sought out Vala's from across the room as she settled at her mother's side. "Rumor has it, I am not the only lucky one.."

  "Not that lucky.." Shiva whispered back to her as her expression instantly went dark and her good mood was washed away. Kali shook her hips just a little and got her to focus once more.

  Shiva was almost telepathically 'mute' a she was empathically, she almost always had to be in physical contact to make herself be heard, and only the strongest telepaths could ever make her hear them. "Anyways, my husband caught your little conspiracy sniffing around Anslaw base. He's been hearing a lot of things.. even before General Winter's assassination. So rather than trying to compete he and General Owen have decided to work together.. which is so uniquely rare for him, that I had to come see it." Just a little of her good mood returned as Shiva nodded. "Which also means your little 'rogue action', isn't so rogue anymore."

  "We couldn't be sure who to trust." Shiva told her gently.

  "Well if you want to take my word for it, you can trust Alexander."

  "Alexander?" Shiva asked with a playful teasing smile.

  "An unfortunate side effect of not being able to pick your own name." She giggled back to the younger woman, sounding and seemingly far more like the girl Shiva remembered from those long ago days in that moment. "Now tell me.. do you love that beautiful young woman as much as she loves you?" Struck by the unexpected nature of that question Shiva wasn't entirely sure how to answer Kali's words or the intense probing look she was given. "Because you are scaring her.. you are not alone anymore, all right?" Shiva was forced to nod in return looking down to tiny bit of floor that sat between them. "This whole thing took you right back to a very dark place, I know that, but you can't stay there." Shiva resented her just a little for those words because there was no way for her to deny the truth of them. Kali was, after all, a telepath on a level that humans might never achieve even after evolution had run its' full course. "Things are awkward for both of you right now.. and she can't help but feel like it would somehow betray his memory.. to be close to you, even though she wants tha
t very thing even more now that he is gone. And it can't help that you are going around like a storm cloud, saying things that are scaring people."

  "I felt.. useless.. I should have woken up sooner.. I should have.." Kali shook her back into silence.

  "You saved yourself, you saved your girlfriend, and you saved her mother. Unprepared and unwarned you decimated a group of men whose only thought is for battle, whose humanity was destroyed to make them into perfect killing machines." She gently ran her fingers through Shiva's hair, caressing her cheek gently. "Shiva, no one can blame you for what you couldn't possibly have done, and if you don't give them a reason not to they can only fear you for what you did do.."

  "You saw?" Shiva whispered back to her feeling her heart start to ache once more.

  "Images isolated from your memories show military hardware, soldiers, and equipment that could not belong to anyone else, so yes I saw it. And I think everyone on this side of things are starting to realize just how much worse it could have been if you had really wanted to misbehave over the last two years." Kali told her with just a ghost of a smile, Shiva gave a frustrated sigh and shifted about on her feet uncomfortably. "Does it bother you, knowing we were created as weapons?"

  "Not really." Shiva was forced to admit, since it had always been a part of her and constantly waiting just beneath the surface it was not hard for her to understand it or the fact that she would have been a different person had her origins been different. Shiva had spent a great deal of time and effort to try and find ways to use her gifts as something other than as a weapon, and in learning the full extent of her abilities to ensure it was her weapon should it be needed.

  "Shiva, this problem wasn't created in a day, and it's not going to get fixed in a day." Kali reminded her gently drawing out just a small smile at the subtle reminder that she needed to slow down. "Now tell me, why did you want to get back in the lab?"

  "If I am going to do this.. I need some things that I left in the vault." Kali's eyes grew wide as she nervously bit her lower lip giving Shiva a look that asked 'Are you serious?' in a very clear way. "If there are more of them next time, I want the upper hand."

  "Dr. Powell took the codes with him to the grave." Kali told her.

  "I don't need the codes, I am the one who knows how to take that vault apart." Shiva told her, while Kali gave her a doubtful look but knew better than try to argue with her when she had made up her mind about something. With a sigh she left the matter at that and drew Shiva across the room to rejoin the others. As Shiva was handed down into Vala's arms Kali moved to take a nearby seat, reaching out to gently squeeze Rei's fingers.

  "So how is Shiva really doing?" Rei asked as she squeezed the other woman's fingers in return.

  "She's still here, Mom." Vala murmured as she hugged Shiva in close and kissed the top of her head.

  "I know." Rei told her daughter with a soft good natured laugh. "I'm sorry sweety, but I want to hear your friend's opinion." Rei added on Shiva's behalf.

  "It's okay, Kali was always known for having an opinion." Kali made an indignant noise and glared at Shiva while the other two women laughed softly into the quiet room.

  "Don't you dare start with me, young lady." Kali warned as she fixed a threatening finger across the nearby distance.

  "So she's fine." Rei murmured with a laugh as she allowed herself to relax just a little more.

  "Yes she is.. she's just.. troubled right now." Kali agreed choosing her words carefully. "Anyways, back to our original discussion.. before we were interrupted by rude children.." She gave Shiva a playful glare that made Vala and Rei laugh just a little bit more. "However secure this place might be.. recent circumstances have made General Owen wonder if it would be better to move you two to a safer location. With Shiva still 'at large', it won't be long before someone starts investigating Devin and those who works for him."

  "Is he going to hide?" Shiva asked hoping Devin would choose to stay safe and out of the line of fire.

  "No, he is going to stay, which is why I think Alex let me come with him. Just in case you might try to voice one of your numerous objections." Kali murmured with a bit of sadness and a bit of pride that Devin was willing to face whatever might follow.

  "I trust you.." Shiva confirmed with a sigh, to which Kali smiled at her.

  "So.. how do you know my daughter-in-law?" Rei asked diplomatically.

  "When did we get married?" Shiva asked Vala who giggled and shushed her playfully.

  "We were created in the same laboratory." Kali confirmed for her.

  "Oh?!" Rei's face lit up just a little at that statement. "Well then, my daughter and I would certainly be in good company then."

  "Yes." Kali agreed clasping the older woman's hand in both of her own as if sensing something none of them were able to. "It will probably come sooner, rather than later.. before anyone can start sniffing around here."

  "This place has little to recommend it for any kind of extended stay." Rei assured her with a warm smile. "I'd say we'd be ready to go right now since there isn't any packing to be done, but where would you take us?"

  "Luna colony, my husband has access to places there that would take more than a few series 5 flunkies to penetrate." Kali assured her, Rei nodded thoughtfully as she considered those words.

  "Alexander Ishmere?" Rei asked after a moment or two. Kali made a sound of agreement not quite sure what to expect from the older woman at that moment.

  "Your husband has a fearsome reputation, but a honorable one." Rei chuckled as her smile returned.

  "He is very.. driven." Kali agreed with a loving smile.

  "Oh but he would have to be to capture your heart, now wouldn't he?" Rei teased with a soft laugh and Kali actually blushed as if to prove Rei's point. "I don't suppose he has any idea who might have done this."

  "No.. unfortunately not, nor if it was same people who tried to attack him a few days ago. They had a strong telekinetic with them, as if someone were trying to make people think Shiva was going on a rampage." Kali told them with shadowed smile and a touch of anger in her eyes. "But I promise you, one way or another we are going to find out the truth."

  "If it hadn't been for Shiva, they might have gotten away with it." Rei agreed with the same darkness in her expression as she reached over to find Shiva's knee and pat it reassuringly. "So we go to the moon, then what happens?"

  "I leave.. and make sure they don't get away with it." Shiva stated in return.

  "You sweety?" Rei asked with surprised worry.

  "They are going to need her mother, she's the only one with a chance of stopping them." Vala told her, on behalf of her girlfriend.

  "She's not the only one, cutey, but that is a discussion for later." Vala however cute she might be was by no means slow on the uptake.

  "Your husband.. he's in charge of the Series 6 labs, isn't he?" Vala asked calmly.

  "So you know?" Kali asked with a relieved sigh, pointing to Shiva in silent questioning.

  "Since the third day.." Vala told her with a bright and pleased smile. "She still hasn't managed to get her scary act to work on me." Shiva was pleased to hear those playful tones return to Vala's voice even as she glared at Vala's loving gaze and was rewarded by a gently laugh and sweet little kiss.

  "Yes, he is." She agreed to Vala and then sighed as a touch of anger appeared on her face. "The attack on him was another assassination attempt, only they didn't know about me. It suggests a long laid plot, as if our mutual enemy suddenly decided that they needed to advance their schedule a little bit since Shiva has disappeared from the maps." Kali confirmed for them and gave them a little insight into the things they hadn't been told. "Your sons are safe in protective custody off world and in the care of people Lt. Hornton trusts implicitly. And the General made it quite clear during our meeting that the consensus is that this is some attempt to take over custodianship of Series 6."

  "Anyone associated with Serie
s 5 is suspect." Shiva commented for her sake.

  "Access does imply guilt in this case." Kali agreed smoothly. "Once we are in my husband's domain there isn't much that could touch us."

  "Smack an asteroid into the surface and make a new massive crater." Shiva murmured with a touch of darkness in her voice.

  "Unsubtle and highly suspect, but that is pretty much what it would take." Kali agreed with a dark laugh.

  "I had a lot of time to think about it." Shiva commented with a wicked little giggle.

  "Stop it." Kali fixed her with a playful glare, a soft laugh, and an accusing finger. At that moment there was a polite warning knock on the door before it opened and General Owen lead another blond beautiful man in his late thirties into the room. Vala whispered to her mother to tell her who was there.

  "Good afternoon, General." Rei called over to him.

  "Sorry to disturb all of you." He murmured politely as he glanced back at the lower ranking officer.

  "Nothing to disturb." Rei assured him with a smile. "Devin is not with you?"

  "No, a Captain from Military investigations appeared at my door this morning." Rei's smile faded just a little and she nodded in understanding. The two men moved into the room to settle close by, Kali kissed the Colonel's cheek informing some of them of his identity. Vala shared this information with her mother so she knew exactly who was there. "Lt. Colonel, that's Shiva there." The General added for the Colonel's sake.

  "Well, hello there Shiva." He murmured clearly trying to be charming.

  "You know if you violated my sister in anyway, I will have to hurt you." Shiva warned much to Kali's intense outraged embarrassment, much to the Colonel's dismay, and to the amusement of everyone else.

  "Sister?" He asked Kali in a low whisper as the rest of the room laughed.

  "Model numbers, my love." Kali reminded playfully elbowing him in the ribs much to his inner amusement. "Each of us were designed in a series, while the other three numbers varied on a number of different factors, our model numbers stayed the same, in essence they are our family line. Shiva is in fact my older sister by six." She added on behalf of those who weren't aware.

  "Seven." Shiva corrected without hesitation. "But they didn't put me into the ovens until after Kali."

  "Colonel, my husband always admired your determination in holding onto your command. It's an honor to finally meet you." Rei murmured in the next moment.

  "Well I was presented with some very good motivation early on, despite the problems I have had little reason to complain, until recently. Most of others in lunar command consider guarding some locked down military lab the hotel of no return. But I was just six months in when the Series 4 disaster hit and we were under some very intense scrutiny. The first of them were woken up to look for signs of mental deterioration, and I suddenly I had a very good reason to stay in control." He murmured giving Kali and adoring smile.

  "Excuse me for asking this now.. but what about the three sent to Earth before Shiva." The General murmured darkly. "That is.. if someone is indeed trying to take control over Series 6, were the ones brought to Earth before her somehow planted? None of us can figure out how they were selected, but.. if anyone in the process was part of your command, shouldn't we be a bit worried about the security of Anslaw."

  "No one in my command was consulted as a matter of fact. In all four cases, a shuttle landed men who didn't really identify themselves stepped out with orders to take this or that stasis pod with them. Other than confirming the orders with lunar command, all I was told was that orders came from 'top men'. As for the men under my command.. well, let's just say their loyalty has already been tested by measures few other places could match and have already proven above reproach."

  "All right then, I've already had a high speed thopter prepared for your group and it should be ready and waiting up in the hanger bay. And I've arranged for some of my people coming into the space port later this evening to retrieve it and bring it back this way." The General agreed with a thoughtful nod.

  "So soon?" Kali asked him with a small flicker of surprise.

  "Better to move now before the inquisition can surprise us in this refuge." Alexander murmured back to her.

  "He's right, of course, but I can hardly let him know that." Kali murmured to the other woman in the room.

  "Yes, of course." Rei agreed with bright, happy laughter. "There's a good boy, now go get our things." She ordered in the Lt. Colonel's direction.

  "Oi.. this going to be a long trip." He mumbled much to the General's bone deep amusement.